“A merger,” Ned says with a chuckle. “You remember me
telling you about it, Lon. We’ve finally sorted things out with
Cooper Enterprises.”
“Swell,” I say, my mind spinning over this news. A party on
Saturday night. I’m certain that’s where it will happen. Someone
at the party means to kill me. Unfortunately this opens up the
list of possible suspects dramatically.
“Any fun plans today, Lonnie?” Eloise asks, sipping her tea.
“Meeting up with your friend Charles? Or maybe our dear Fay?”
Ned’s gaze flickers up, but when I meet it, he looks back at
his paper.
“I’m not sure,” I say, pouring myself some coffee.
“You should. She’s been missing you, you know.” Eloise
smiles. “A charming girl, that Fay. And after all, Lonnie, it’s not every day you get to meet a real New Yorker.”
Ned shuts his newspaper abruptly, and I set the coffeepot
down with a clink.
“What are you talking about, Eloise?” Ned says. “Fay’s
the Cartwrights’ only daughter. Her family is from here in
Crest Harbor.”
Aunt Eloise munches her jam-covered toast, shaking her
head. “No, I don’t think so. Gladys Harper’s sister’s husband
works with Jeffery Duncan, and he says that Fay is staying with
his family for the summer. Up from New York for the summer.
Says he thought everyone knew that. He says Fay was born and
raised on the Lower East Side. A real New York girl from a New
York family.”
Ned scoffs loudly. “Well, I think Gladys Harper’s sister’s husband is full of bushwa.”
“Why, Ned!” Eloise says, appalled.
He frowns. “My apologies, Eloise.” He then folds his paper
and stands. “It seems I have a rather low tolerance for idle
gossip this morning.”
He starts inside but then turns me a look. “Lon. Can I have
a moment?”
I’m still so baffled by this allegation about Fay that I follow
him without protest. Is Aunt Eloise simply spouting tall tales
of the society hags? Or is this girl I’m supposed to marry even
more of a stranger to me than I’d realized?
Ned leads me into his office and sits at his desk with a
deep frown.
“It’s rubbish, Lon. If I can teach you one lesson, it’s to never
listen to old gossips. They spin so many stories that they lose
track of what’s true and what’s a lie.”
I fold my arms across my chest. “Fay did seem pretty comfortable when she visited me in Manhattan.”
“She’s a comfortable kind of girl,” Ned says.
I raise an eyebrow. “Well, I’m glad someone was, on that trip.”
Ned drums his fingers on the papers on his desk. He seems to
be searching for the right words. “Listen, Lon. I’ve been meaning to apologize about the way I acted that night. I’m not your father, though I love you like a son.”
This admission warms me a little.
“I’d just had a rough time, you see,” he continues. “Bad business trip.”
I immediately think about the argument I overheard in his
hotel room. Not to mention the headlights I saw in front of the
house at two in the morning. Then I hear Cassandra’s word:
“murder.” My pulse jumps. This could be my chance to get the
vital information I need.
“Any trouble, Uncle Ned?”
He rubs his forehead but then forces a smile. “No, son.
Nothing you need to worry about.”
“You can tell me,” I say. “It might be important. More important than you know.”
Ned frowns a little at my cryptic statement. I lean forward
across the desk. “Is there someone in New York who might
want to hurt you?”
“What’s all this about?” Ned says, his face going red. “You’ve
been watching too many talkies, Lon.”
He’s not going to give me anything. Maybe he wants to
keep me out of it. Maybe he thinks he’s protecting me. How
wrong he is. I’m about to press harder when I notice the
papers on his desk. They’re stamped with past-due notices in